Cue-rest.



PATENTED JUNE 4,1907;

a. F. WILLIAMSON.

CUE REST.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT.1'7,1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\ CUE-REST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 4, 1907.

hf-$2211: filed September 17,1906. Serial No. 334,899.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. WILLLIAM- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cue-Rests, of which the following is a specification.

To those who play or are at all familiar with billiards and pool, it is well known that the cue support, or bridge as it is called, is as at present ordinarily constructed a poor makeshift or substitute for ones hand in holding the cue, although it is indispensable under certain conditions when the cue ball at the proper objective is at such a distance from the rail or at such an inaccessible position that ones hand cannot grasp it at the proper point with respect to the tip to secure the requisite steadiness.

Cue rests, as heretofore ordinarily employed, comprise a handle portion to one end of which is secured the bridge proper which is formed with several notches or curved recesses to guide the cue at the tip end when .making the shot; and I have found, as have all other persons familiar with these games,

that these bridges or one supports cannot be depended upon and are seldom used, unless absolutely necessary, as above stated, owing to the fact that not only is the necessary po sition when using the cue rest an awkward one, but the cue is liable to slip sidewise out of the notch or recess upon which it is re ceived and the shot therefore spoiled.

It is the object of my invention to improve upon this implement so as to produce as perfect and as eflicient a device of this character as possible, and to this end my invention consists in a cue support embodying certain features of construction and arrangements of the parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out.

in the appended claims.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means for effecting the result, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved cue rest. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a modified structure. Fig. 4 is an end view of this modified form of the device. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one of the parts of the same.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings the numeral 1 designates the handle of my improved cue rest and 2 the head block thereof secured to one end of the handle. The head block 2 is flat throughout the extent of its lower edge and is provided with rectangular side recesses producing two oppositely extending base fingers 3 that serve to increase the bearing surface of the block and which afford a firm rest for the device on the table when the base edge is placed in contact with the latter.

The head block 2 is provided above its base with two other oppositely extending fingers 4 which are spaced from the fingers 3 and are parallel therewith and are'provided at their outer ends with upwardly extending extremities 5 at right-angles to their main portions, as shown. Intermediate of the upwardly extending extremities 5 of the fingers 4, the head block '2 is formed with two upwardly extending fingers 6 which rise from a solid portion as shown and extend to aplane above the extremities 5 of the fingers 4. Two grooved rollers 7 are journaled between the base fingers 3 and the main portions of the fingers 4 and three other rollers 8 are journaled between the upwardly extending extremities 5 of the fingers 4 and the higher fingers 6. The fingers 6 hold the middle roller 8 in a higher plane than the adjacent rollers and the construction of the fingers 6 pro vides that each of the rollers 8 shall be separated one from the other, while at the same time it will be noted that all of the fingers extend above the peripheries of their respective rollers and thereby assist in preventing the cue from jumping sidewise off the device when being used, while at the same time this arrangement protects the rollers from injury under careless usage.

It is to be particularly noted that all of the fingers above described are preferably of uni form thickness throughout, which produces a symmetrical device of pleasing appearance, and which, so far as the ends of the base fingers 3 are concerned and the outer surfaces of the fingers 4 are concerned, provides fiat surfaces at right-angles to each other so that the device may have a secure rest upon the billiard or pool table either with the rollers 8 upright or with one or the other of the rollers 7 upright.

In that embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the handle 1 and head block 2 with its fingers 3 its fingers 4 with upwardly extending extremities 5 and the fingers 6 are substantially like the construction above described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2, except that the fingers 6 between the extremities 5*, do not necessarily extend to a higher plane than the ends of said extremities 5 The roller 7 and the two outermost rollers 8 in this modified construction, are substantially like the rollers 7, and outer rollers 8 before described.

The essential. difference between the modified structure and the structure first herein described, is that the former embodies one or more rollers which. directly receive the cue, characterized in that they are mounted to turn or swivel with respect to the head block of the cue support so that the cue may beturned to the proper angle to obtain the proper striking effect upon the cue ball. In the present instance, I have shown the intermediate upper roller 8* as being mounted and the construction to carry this result out is embodied in a forked bracket 9 in which the trunnions of the said intermediate roller 8 are journaled, as shown, the said bracket being mounted upon a stem 10 which is fitted to move about its longitudinal axis in the head block 2 so that the roller 8"- may be turned in a substantially horizontal plane. By means of this arrangement, it is evident that the player may place or turn his cue so as to secure any desired effect upon the cue ball, such as striking it more or less tangentially to obtain the effect that is known as English.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be'seen that I have provided an improved article of this nature which does not possess the disadvantages of the ordinary cue rest as heretofore constructed and which presents a novel and pleasing appearance.

In order to insure that the pivotally mounted roller or rollers shall not turn far enough on their stems to present the end of the roller to a player, I have provided limiting devices which, in the present instance, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, consist of two pins or projections 11 located in the path of movement of arms 12 secured to and projecting from opposite sides of the stem 10. It is evident from this arrangement that the pivotally mounted roller is limited in its axle or pivotal movement in either direction. Hence it is not possible to turn the pivotal roller to a position where its end would face the player andnecessitate the manual adjustment of the device before the cue may be properly placed therein.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a cue support consisting of a handle, a head block secured to one end of the handle, the head block being provided with a fiat base edge and two oppositely extending fingers 3, and also provided with two fingers 4 of rightangle formation spaced from the first named fingers and parallel therewith at their base portions, the other portions of said angular fingers extending upwardly with their outer surfaces flat and in alinement with the ends of the fingers 3 which are also flat, and the said head block also provided with two intermediate upwardly extending fingers 6 parallel with the extremities 4, a grooved roller journaled between each of the first named fingers and the adjacent portions of one of the right-angle fingers, and three other rollers independently journaled in the head block between the upwardly extending extremities of the angular fingers and the said intermediate upwardly extending fingers.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a handle, a head block secured to the handle, a forked bracket provided with a stem swiveled in said block, means for limiting the movement of said stem, and a grooved roller j ournaled between the arms of said bracket.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a handle, a head block secured to said handle, a forked bracket provided with a stem swiveled in said head block, said stem being provided with oppositely extending arms, pins projecting in said head block in the path of movements of said arms, and designed to limit the 'movement of the stem in both directions, and a grooved roller journaled between the arms of said bracket.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. WILLIAMSON. [a s] 

